IU Talking Points: This weekend big for football roster building, an opportunity for hoops
BLOOMINGTON – Curt Cignetti’s roster rebuild began to take shape earlier this week, with a flurry of high school commitments and recommitments, as well as one transfer.
Last weekend brought a first wave of visitors to Bloomington, for Cignetti and his newly completed staff to wine and dine.
Among the group were a handful of former James Madison commitments who received Indiana offers shortly after reopening their recruitments, several currently committed high school seniors reevaluating the new staff and a handful of transfers.
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Of particular interest are the four former JMU commits, three of whom are now Indiana commits.
Quarterback Alberto Mendoza, edge rusher Daniel Ndukwe and defensive lineman Mario Landino all publicly committed to Indiana following visits this weekend. Each added an IU offer virtually as soon as they reopened their recruitments, and then shut those recruitments back down once they were able to visit a familiar staff in a new program.
The lone JMU decommitment who was offered but hasn’t yet followed Cignetti to Indiana is Jah Jah Boyd, a two-way athlete from the Philadelphia area. Boyd is reportedly visiting Pittsburgh this weekend, to backstop his Bloomington trip. The highest-rated commitment in the Dukes’ 2024 class before Cignetti left for IU, Boyd would be an early win for the Hoosiers’ new coach if he can convince Boyd to come with him.
There have been some lingering questions from Indiana fans about the merits of bringing players once committed to a Sun Belt program to a Big Ten team. Two thoughts come to mind: First, Cignetti will already have thorough evaluations on his prior commits, and it appears for now as if he’s being relatively picky about the ones he’d like to target at Indiana, and second, frankly he will know he needs to fill his roster.
IU’s lone transfer thus far has been Wake Forest running back Justice Ellison. Once a receiver, Ellison turned into a productive back in Winston-Salem, where he tallied 1,909 yards and 15 touchdowns across four seasons. Ellison will be using his COVID year to play one more in college.
Among the reaffirmed commitments after weekend officials — in many cases, second officials, as allowed because of the coaching change — were Tennessee wide receiver Charlie Becker and Georgia running back Justus Savage. Indiana’s contingent of in-state commitments (Carmel’s Christian Peterson, Fishers’ Khobie Martin, Speedway’s Adedamola Ajani and Danville’s Evan Lawrence) all confirmed to our Kyle Neddenriep they remain in the fold.
Additionally, four-star Center Grove quarterback Tyler Cherry visited late last week. He’s expected to remain a priority for IU’s new staff, who will have an in-home with Cherry and his family Thursday.
Expect this weekend to be another big one for visitors, perhaps even bigger than last weekend. The Kansas game and the looming signing window for both high school and transfer players make this specific weekend a big one.
This is conjecture, but it also wouldn’t be surprising if Cignetti wound up targeting more talent from James Madison, depending upon who elects to hit the portal after the Dukes’ bowl game Dec. 23.
Early postseason outlook
Any longtime reader of Talking Points knows about our hard stance against bracketology discussion before Valentine’s Day. So, as we dig into this conversation, understand we are not talking in “if the season ended today” terms, because that would be silly to entertain in mid-December.
That said, NCAA tournament participation is the ultimate barometer in college basketball. We dropped our quarter-pole report card Wednesday, examining the good and bad IU has put on the floor across the first nine games of the season. An assessment, at least, of the Hoosiers’ long-term outlook seemed warranted.
Like a lot else surrounding this team right now, the projection toward tournament or even bubble status is a mixed bag right now.
IU first quarter report card: This work-in-progress requires a lot of work
The Hoosiers started the season with a series of close (in some fans’ eyes, too close) calls against guarantee-game opponents. They were competitive but never really in control of what evolved into a 20-point loss to UConn in New York. That was backstopped by a four-game winning streak that included a 2-0 Big Ten start, before last Saturday’s capitulation against Auburn in Atlanta.
Generally speaking, IU has so far won the games it could not lose, and with the possible exception of Michigan, lost the games it was expected to. There’s good and bad in that.
The good is obvious.
Indiana hasn’t absorbed any damaging losses yet, and particularly as it relates to November-December home dates, provided the Hoosiers close out the Christmas period well, they won’t before Big Ten play resumes.
Maryland is presently a mess, No. 153 in the NET, the Big Ten’s lowest-ranked team. That win won’t count for much. Michigan, which as of right now does stand as a Quad 1 win, might. Not just because of the value of the win itself, but also because a young team went on the road in the Big Ten and beat a potential quality opponent at the first time of asking. That’s an important hurdle to clear. And while they were varying degrees of ugly, the losses won’t really hurt long term.
The problem remains: What IU has done so far, especially in a below-average Big Ten, probably won’t be enough if trends hold. Ken Pomeroy currently rates the league third among conferences, with the capacity to be overtaken by the Big East, and only five Big Ten terms are currently ranked top-40 in KenPom.
IU has double plays with Nebraska (which might be valuable by March), Penn State and Minnesota (which might not be) in league play. The Hoosiers face Purdue, Wisconsin and Ohio State each twice, but Northwestern (home) and Illinois (away) only once. There are fewer opportunities than normal for Quad 1 wins in the conference this year, and frankly, IU still has to prove it can run with and beat those kinds of teams.
Which makes this weekend rather important.
Indiana does not need to beat Kansas. A loss, even a heavy one, while perhaps discouraging would not be a body blow to the Hoosiers’ NCAA tournament resume.
But a win would make a big difference. It would provide the Hoosiers a nonconference feather in their cap. It would prove — perhaps as much to this team as any of its opponents — that IU can compete with the nation’s best, especially at home. And it would boost what is right now a disconcertingly low NET rating (No. 123).
Again, it’s still so early, which is why we’re loath to discuss this stuff at all. But as a check-in near a significant mile marker on the schedule — and with a big game coming Saturday — it seemed worthwhile.
Curt Cignetti’s Indiana staff confirmed
There were few surprises when Cignetti’s first IU coaching staff was announced Wednesday lunchtime.
All the confirmed names landed in the 10-man staff, including six holdovers from James Madison, the retained Bob Bostad and three external hires. The full staff is as follows:
Offense
OC/WRs – Mike Shanahan
co-OC/QBs – Tino Sunseri
OL/run game coordinator – Bob Bostad
TEs/ST – Grant Cain
RBs – John Miller
Defense
DEs – Buddha Williams
DTs – Pat Kuntz
DC/LBs – Bryant Haines
Secondary/S – Ola Adams
CBs – Rod Ojong
The only notable differences are the addition of co-offensive coordinator to Sunseri’s title, and Bostad’s retention of duties as run-game coordinator.
Neither is particularly surprising. Sunseri has done more than enough across his young career to deserve a title bump. And Bostad would have been well within his rights to keep his, as he holds over from Tom Allen’s last staff.
Trivia
Saturday will mark the 16th meeting between Indiana and Kansas. Who holds the series record?
Odds & Ends
∎ It’s yet to be determined whether IU’s home-and-home series with Kansas will be continued beyond its initial two-year run. People within Indiana’s program and athletic department have been generally welcoming of the idea across the past year, but future scheduling could get in the way.
This weekend — after finals but before Christmas — has largely been earmarked for the restored Kentucky series beginning in 2025, while across the past three seasons, Kansas’ annual rivalry game against Missouri has fallen somewhere in the weekend before. Kansas also starts a home-and-home with North Carolina next year.
If the series is continued, it would probably have to shift its place on the schedule, which could be a stumbling block to an extension.
∎ Expect Indiana to be serious about Ohio quarterback transfer Kurtis Rourke, who’s likely to visit Bloomington at some point soon. A sixth-year signal caller, Routke tallied 7,666 passing yards, 50 touchdowns and 16 interceptions across parts of five years — three with major snaps — in Athens.
Rourke suffered a torn ACL in November 2022, but recovered in time to play a significant role for Ohio last season. Any movement in his recruitment likely wouldn’t take major shape until after the Bobcats’ bowl game Saturday.
∎ Two of IU’s four starting offensive linemen that elected to enter the portal, Kahlil Benson and Matthew Bedford, have since committed to Colorado. Zach Carpenter remains uncommitted, but Curt Cignetti got good news Wednesday night when Carter Smith announced he's coming back. Smith, with huge athletic upside, a season of Big Ten left tackle under his belt and three more years of eligibility, is a significant retention in particular.
∎ Bringing wide receiver Donaven McCulley back might be more difficult. Indiana has prioritized him as highly as any current Hoosier in the portal, from what we’ve heard. But Michigan’s involvement, plus the interest of numerous high-profile SEC and ACC schools, means competition might prove too stiff to keep him in the fold.
∎ Missed this last week, and it was no surprise, but IU was confirmed for its first trip to the Battle 4 Atlantis next season. If you make the trip, try the Fish Fry near Junkanoo Beach for food, and Graycliff Hotel for cigars, if they’re your thing.
∎ Camryn Haworth, IU volleyball’s junior setter, was named honorable-mention All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association on Wednesday. Haworth becomes just the fourth Hoosier in the history of her program to garner All-America honors.
Answer
IU, by one game, 8-7. The Hoosiers famously defeated Kansas in the programs’ first two meetings, in 1940 and 1953, both times for the national championship.
Indiana won six-straight to start the series, before Kansas tore off five in a row.
Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Curt Cignetti building IU football roster; basketball gets Kansas shot
